My wife and I arrived in Seattle on Friday after our five hour trip. We stayed at the Mediterranean Hotel near Seattle Center. It was a good choice as we could skip around the space needle area easily. Also, it had a terrific top floor outside deck where you could see literally everything. I particularly enjoyed that.

Friday night, after the needle, we ate at the Palace Kitchen. It was a lot of fun. Loud, hip and welcoming. We like those kinds of places.

Saturday, we shopped around the area and then headed to the boat. Pier 30 is a good distance from this north Seattle hotel, so the cab was about 12.00. We got there right at noon, and after figuring out that checking our luggage with a porter was the smart thing to do, we headed into embarkation, which was smooth and quick. Disembarking was just as easy. Here are my area reviews: Read more